Dr. Megan Linn, right, of Neonatal Associates, S.C., and Lisa Piontek, N.N.P., at work in the neonatal intensive care united Friday, Aug. 9 at St. Vincent Hospital.

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A massive statewide database of health care claims years in the making is set to go public in 2014, allowing Wisconsin residents to do comparison shopping before they choose a doctor or schedule surgery.

The Wisconsin Health Information Organization accumulated 250 million claims for care provided to 3.7 million Wisconsin residents over the past several years. Every current Medicaid claim is in the database, along with 70 percent of commercial claims, with Medicare information hopefully being added soon.

The database will operate as a complement to the health care exchanges set to open ...